"What do you think she is doing in Xishan?"
Qi's words left the fifth wife speechless.
Dong Shulan's move was naturally to take over Xishan, whether it was those workshops or those fields!
"She and the official haven't gotten married yet, and even their engagement was delayed due to the Empress Dowager's passing... In what capacity did she take over Xishan?"
"As the young lady of the Fu family!"
Everyone was surprised again, "But she has never been to the Fu family!"
Qi laughed. "That's why I'm confused. What's the logic behind this? When the master is at home, we are not allowed to ask about anything. He is in charge of everything. But now that the master hasn't returned, why is the lifeblood of the Fu family in the hands of an outsider like Dong Shulan?"
"So what does Second Sister mean?"
Qi was silent for a moment. "You are all about to give birth, so just stay at home and wait for the birth. I will go to Xishan tomorrow to meet this Dong Shulan!"
Qu Linglong suddenly smiled. "I think it would be better to ask Dong Shulan to come to Linjiang. After all, we also want to know why she did this. If she can't give a reason... the business here, inside and outside, should be managed by the six of us together before the master returns. Do you think what I say makes sense?"
This certainly makes more sense. Who knows what Qi would talk about with Dong Shulan when he went to Xishan?
They were not feeling at ease at the moment. There had been no news from Fu Daguan for half a year, and Fu Xiaoguan had died. If something happened to Fu Daguan, it would obviously be too late to abort the baby. But if the time really came for them to go their separate ways, the Fu family's wealth would still be huge.
Qi hadn't expected the Seventh Old Man to come up with such an idea. She smiled faintly and said, "Since you're worried, fine. I'll send someone to West Hill to invite Dong Shulan tomorrow. We can have tea together and talk this over."
"I don't think there's much to say. After all, she's not the daughter-in-law of the Fu family. Besides... Fu Xiaoguan isn't the master's son. Even if she marries Fu Xiaoguan, what does that have to do with the Fu Mansion? She should go to Wu Dynasty!"
This was said by the third wife, and it made a lot of sense. When the other women thought about it carefully, they realized that it was true.
Therefore, the huge fortune of the Fu family depends on who can give birth to a son!
The second child, Qi, has no chance anymore, so the remaining five will have to rely on whether the belly can survive!
…
…
Xishan Villa.
There is a lantern hanging on the big banyan tree in the yard.
Dong Shulan, Yu Wenjun and Yan Xiaolou were sitting in this pavilion at the moment.
There was a box of Xishan Tianchun on the table, and a few cold dishes to go with the wine.
Dong Shulan poured wine for Yu Wenjun and Yan Xiaolou and said, "This is roughly the current state of our family's assets. We still have two payments from the Imperial Merchants, totaling 63,000 taels. There are six workshops in Yao County, comparable in scale to ours. I plan to sell all the output from all the workshops in Yao County to Guanyun City in the Wu Dynasty. My second brother arrived there last month and wrote to say that he's already completed the handover with Nangong Dongxue."
"This means that Yu Dynasty's supply will still be insufficient, so I plan to go to Yao County again tomorrow to set up more workshops. I still have 967,000 taels of silver left, and I plan to spend some of it on the wine-making and soap-making workshops."
"Because of the raw materials, the perfume production in Xishan and Yaoxian is already insufficient. We need to increase our flower planting efforts next year. Perfume is actually the most profitable business here, but it's a pity that we started a little late."
"I haven't sold a single grain of wheat this year, but I plan to sell all the rice I'll get next year, except for making wine and daily necessities."
Yu Wenyun interrupted here and asked why.
Dong Shulan raised her glass, and the three women drank from it. She smiled and said, "Because next year, apart from the farms needed to cultivate the third generation of Fu, all the other farms will be used to sow the second generation of Fu!"
Yan Xiaolou was completely bewildered, but Yu Wenjun knew about this, so her eyes lit up. "Is it really possible to have such a high output?"
"Hmm!" Dong Shulan said as she poured wine, "Before you came, I made a special comparison. It's definitely at least double the output compared to before!"
Yan Xiaolou was shocked. "So powerful?"
"Of course, my husband is so powerful!"
"So the price of food will drop next year?" Yu Wenjun asked.
"I won't necessarily lower the price. After all, the cultivated area isn't very large. However, I plan to sell the extra seeds. I signed the first contract with Yan Xiwen two days ago. The rice seeds are 200 wen per pound."
Yan Xiaolou's eyes widened immediately. Although she didn't know how much rice sold for in the market, two hundred coins for one pound was obviously an extremely high price.
Yu Wenjun sipped his wine and thought for a moment, "Why not sell this thing to my aunt, the Princess? It would be much easier for her to promote it nationwide than for us to do it ourselves."
Dong Shulan shook her head. "Not yet. First, we don't have that much rice seed. Second, whether we can stably produce more than double the rice requires practice in Yao County. If we want to sell nationwide, my husband once said that if everything goes well, it will take about five years."
This was something that couldn't be rushed, so Yu Wenyun nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions.
Then the three women talked about many business matters, mostly about Dong Shulan's plans. Yu Wenjun mentioned it occasionally, while Yan Xiaolou basically just listened.
Only at this moment did Yan Xiaolou understand Dong Shulan's abilities and realized that he was unable to share even a little bit of the burden for Fu Xiaoguan.
Seeing the dejection on Yan Xiaolou's face, Dong Shulan drank a glass with her and said with a smile, "Don't take it to heart. My husband once said that everyone has their own unique qualities. I just encountered these things earlier than you."
Yu Wenjun also changed the subject and said, "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, why haven't you thought about going to Linjiang to visit those...aunts?"
"You don't have to go for now. I heard from Chunxiu that the five aunts are about to give birth. Let's wait until they give birth. It depends on how long you stay here. If the time is right, then we can go and see those brothers and sisters together."
After saying this, Dong Shulan looked at Yan Xiaolou and said, "There's something in my heart that I want to tell you. Of course, Wen Yun also needs to think about it carefully."
Dong Shulan looked up at the moon in the sky, her tone becoming heavy. "My husband... is most likely gone. This is something we will have to face eventually. I came here because I've already made up my mind. In this life, I will never marry again. I will stay here to protect this family property for him."
She retracted her gaze and looked at Yan Xiaolou. "You simply admire his talent, which is different from me. I'm already very happy that you can come here. But I still have to tell you this: it's not difficult to spend a lonely night alone, but to spend a lifetime alone... that's actually very difficult."
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